SAGA Diagnostics Enters into Development Agreement with AstraZeneca

SAGA Diagnostics AB, a cancer liquid biopsy and genomic testing company focused on precision oncology and non-invasive ultrasensitive monitoring of cancer patients, has entered into an assay development agreement with the global, science-led biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN).

SAGA Diagnostics will in the course of this agreement develop unique SAGAsafe® dPCR assays towards undisclosed methylated targets for analyses of tissue samples and liquid biopsies.

“We have chosen to partner with SAGA because of the ultrasensitive performance of the SAGAsafe® technology and possibility to custom tailor highly complex dPCR assays to meet our desired analytical standards. We are excited about exploring this new area together with SAGA.” James Hadfield, Director Epigenomics, Oncology Translational Medicine, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

SAGAsafe® is a patented improvement of digital PCR that enables approximately 100-fold increased sensitivity compared to competitor methods, and can be used to quantify sequence variants in tissue samples as well as liquid biopsies such as blood plasma with unprecedented performance.

“We are honored that Dr. Hadfield and his team have selected SAGA and the SAGAsafe® platform to develop ultrasensitive dPCR methylation assays for AstraZeneca’s clinical research study, and are pleased to be working together again.” Lao Saal, co-founder and COO of SAGA Diagnostics

SAGAsafe® is part of a portfolio of ultrasensitive technologies, which also includes SAGAsign® for personalized monitoring of cancer burden and minimal residual disease (MRD) using chromosomal rearrangements, as well as novel technologies in development. SAGA offers both off-the-shelf analysis services and kits as well as customizable solutions to fit customers’ needs. SAGA’s molecular tools are being used in clinical trials and hospitals for detecting actionable mutations, monitoring treatment response, measuring minimal residual disease, and identifying resistance mechanisms to help direct therapy.